The present invention relates generally to the bulk processing of mail and the like.
For some time, various devices have been developed to facilitate the extraction of contents from envelopes received in a mail room setting. Initially, this involved the development of devices which could be used to receive a plurality of envelopes for extraction of their contents, to serially sever envelope edges and expose the contents for presentation to an operator for manual extraction. One example of this type of apparatus which has found acceptance in the industry is the "Model 50" Rapid Extraction Desk which is manufactured by Opex Corporation of Moorestown, New Jersey. Later efforts turned to the bulk processing of mail, in fully automated devices which could receive large quantities of envelopes for serial delivery to an apparatus which could sequentially open the envelopes, extract their contents, and orient the extracted contents for subsequent stacking. One example of this type of apparatus which has found acceptance in the industry is the "Model 100" extraction system, which is also manufactured by Opex Corporation of Moorestown, New Jersey.
The availability of such devices, as well as the everpresent impetus to expedite the processing of certain types of mail (i.e., those containing an invoice and check for deposit), has led to the need for ancillary equipment capable of facilitating the pre-processing of sealed envelopes, prior to an extraction procedure, and the post-processing of documents, following an extraction procedure. In pre-sorting envelopes, it is important to identify envelopes containing checks, and which are therefore to be processed on an expedited basis (to expedite deposit of the extracted checks), as well as to identify the orientation of the checks contained within the envelopes to facilitates their subsequent extraction and processing. In post-sorting extracted documents, it is again important to identify extracted checks, and to identify the orientation of the extracted checks prior to stacking and subsequent processing.
Such pre-processing and post-processing is desirable to facilitate the handling of extracted checks, significantly expediting their processing for deposit (which is the overall objective of mail extraction procedures of this general type).